Calendar girl!

Corinna from Ribbons and Red Tape

And the winner of the Claire Lomas "Brit riders in the buff" calendar is -- another blogger! Congrats to Corinna from Ribbons and Red Tape!

Riley Nov. 27th: working to the right

This is pretty dark footage of Riley and I from Nov. 27. Ri gets "hoppy" in this direction, almost always in the same corner near the exit door. I figure it's kind of a rein lameness, and in this session I wanted to get him forward and through to get past it. I also need to work on my own position.

Bob was there to videotape at the beginning of my ride, which is us at our worst in terms of suppleness (both of us!) and my stirrups are at least a hole too short here -- I lent my saddle out and didn't get the sweet spot in my first try.  I do like the forward way Ri is travelling. I don't see a ton of improvement from the last video I shared.

All I want for Christmas...

I love my Petrie boots, but they are hard as a rock like all dressage boots are. I can't walk in them all day like I can my Mountain Horses. Wishing these gel-foot-protectors weren't quite so expensive ($26 for half-socks?). Do they work? Not sure, but if they did, what great gift idea for horsewomen and men.

I'm a sucker for socks

Dontcha love this little gal? Her name is Starlet, and she's by Sempatico out of Deco's Favorite- Premium Oldenburg mare by Art Deco. I've seen a few other Sempatico offspring, one consistently beat Ri-Ri at breed shows despite having a bit of a ewe neck (which he later outgrew). If you're in the market for color, Sempatico is a good choice IMHO. She's for sale at http://www.silverwoodfarm.com/sale.html

Arabian dressage stallion: Awfully nice!

Beymoon Zela, dressage stallion that happens to be an Arabian (would you know it if I hadn't told you?). If I were not so tall in stature I would love to ride Arabians, all that movement without all the hype. It's so fun to see these horses perform...

Black Friday Book Rec: Padre's Story

I'm so pleased to recommend Padre the Mustang: A True Story for adults and kids for Christmas.

What? A kid's book? 
Sure, but maybe more. Padre's Story has kid-oriented storytelling, and it's kid-tested on young riders in Vernon Hills, Illinois. The book is also filled with gorgeous full color pictures of Padre, perhaps the most photogenic mustang in history. This could be a coffee table book. I have a copy that I consider Padre's commemorative photo album. I don't know what to say, his sweet face makes me smile and I just plain enjoy looking at it.

If you would like to get one, contact Patti Gruber at PattiBrutus2@aol.com. The cost is $19.95 before tax and shipping.  It can also be personalized to anyone you would like.  T-shirts are also available for $10 in S-2XL, and Sweatshirts for $15 in M-XL, baseball Caps $15.  Patti takes Visa, MC and AMEX as well as cashiers checks.

Lovely lovely, and each page is filled with color and action!

Slice of life: Bringing the boys in

It's November 20, sixty degrees, and part-sunny -- almost December and I'm walking around in a thin turtleneck. I've just finished mucking stalls, and Bob has come with me to bring in the horses so I can ride Ri. I hand Bob the video camera to get footage of my colorful boys. Nothing happens here, but an uneventful day with horses is a sort of heaven, isn't it? I love these little familiar routines, and I have  so much to be thankful for. Hug your horses.

Some new tidbits of info: Harv is now barefoot and doing well in that respect; later in the evening on this day, I find partly chewed hay in Harv's stall. He's not eating hay well, even soft hay. Am trying hay pellets from Tractor Supply and when our hay guy comes he'll bring chopped hay to try.

Happy Thanksgiving, all, and I hope your day is lovely and safe and peaceful.

Weird non-equestrian-equestrian fashion: hosiery leggings

The thing about full seats and extended patch and knee patches is, they serve a purpose, especially for people who ride more than one horse a day. Why, why, why would anyone want, or need, to have fake patches on hose?

What do you guys think? Thumbs up? Down? Indifferent?

Wall Street: What a dog and pony show

In this case, it's actually pleasant and fun! Thanks to Brigit for sharing...

Riley's full brother!!!

I found this video of Riley's FULL brother -- same sire and dam, born the year after Ri. He is a stunner -- so elegant and light in his frame, almost like a super-fancy thoroughbred. And a nice jumper! He's very young and ridden very differently than a young dressage horse would be, so comparisons are difficult, not to mention a little tacky. Still, Bob and I watched it, and we agreed. IOHOO (In Our Humble Objective Opinion), I have the nicer horse. :-)

Why is Ri the superior specimen? Well for one, Denmark -- lovely as he is -- doesn't have Ri-Ri's big sweet expression. Their trots are very similar, their canters are not (I think Ri's is a little longer strided). I think Riley has more of his mom than his dad, while Denmark is the other way around. Denmark is lovely and refined -- he is in the right job as a hunter, I hope I can see more videos in the future.

Million hit milestone!

BTB hit the million-hit-mark this month -- think this happened in November, forgot to check. The point is,  the blog now has 1,015,635 hits. Thanks all!

To celebrate I'm doing a calendar giveaway, specifically the benefit calendar I have blogged about:

The Claire Lomas cute-brit-riders-in-the-buff calendar. 

To enter, just leave a comment with 

a) your contact info or unique name

b) where you will hang it!

Sparkle-plenty: cool jackets but not for shows

Feliway feli-went, and the fighting starts again

Not our cats...

A bit of an update: Bob threw away the Feliway diffuser a few weeks ago, and didn't tell me -- it was nearly empty and he didn't realize it was reusable. Here's the interesting thing, I didn't notice the diffuser was gone but I noticed the cats fighting again. Last night there was a big fracas, and as we were discussing it I wondered aloud if the pheromones were losing their kick. That's when Bob mentioned we'd run out of juice, and darn if the fighting didn't start one or two days after the diffuser was removed.

We had a new one fedexed, right before I went to San Diego. I'm back now, and ready to assess if things have calmed down.  I thought I'd share my unintentional test and the fact that we did seem to notice a change without the Feliway.

And, drumroll, I think Bob has accepted the situation with the cats. Neither is enamored of the other (yet) but it is not a scary or high agression kind of fighting, and usually they just give each other room. Bob is now telling me the cute things Newman does so he's "in" for good I think...

Orange is awesome

A photo stolen from my very favorite eventing blog  Eventingnation.com's coverage of Galway Downs showjumping -- is this not the most wonderful color combination ever? This rider (Merel Bloom on Rumor Has It if I'm riding the caption correctly) has the panache to carry of orange, esp. with that blonde hair...

Photo likely from Samantha Clark, Eventing Nation

A photo stolen from Eventingnation.com

Bob comments on Riley

Here's a husband anecdote for you! For one reason or another, Bob had not seen me ride Riley in six months, and recently he came out to watch us go. He is usually pretty honest, and he was wowed. "Doesn't he step nice?" he exclaimed, and "He's really motoring!" It was an unusually good ride. Riley wasn't unsteady going to the right as he often is, and he really did feel great.

As we drove home Bob made an observation that made me grin. He described Riley as looking mature and professional, and then said:

"I can really sense the connection between horse and rider now. Before, he looked like a baby with a bit in his mouth."

A great comment, I think...

Terry Wetzel, horse husband of Sabrina Wetzel, took this great shot of Ri.

Padre and I: My brush with fame (and another Christmas idea)

I just love this video still. Love it love it love it.

And if you didn't already know, Padre is going to be a Breyer horse model -- Here is the prototype, and this new model goes on sale in the spring...

Qredit under saddle

It's fun to watch these big-moving youngsters go under saddle. You can see this boy trying to please, and struggling to control those big gaits (while looking AMAZING the whole time! Love him...

Christmas idea #4 Another good read

When travelling via plane, selecting the right book to read is a challenge. Too "high-brow" and you won't be able to focus on the subtlety. Too badly written and it won't hold your interest. I'm happy to report that I've found an author I can rely on, I think, for my airport reading.  And she has a dressage connection!

Have any of you read Tami Hoag? Tami is an avid dressage rider of some repute, and she also writes. I hadn't read her books at all, until I picked up a copy of one of her books in the airport in DC last month -- Secrets to the Grave. It's not horsey at all, although she uses a few nice horse metaphors that I enjoyed. It's a little low-brow, it's gory, it's formulaic, but it is a good read that kept me interested while travelling the airways.

It's a great Christmas idea but make sure to vet out your recipients tolerance for graphic thriller-type descriptions. Not for the feint of heart...

Christmas idea #3 Bling for not so big bucks

Here's another one from DressageExtensions.com, a gold-embossed browband for $10, in cob or full.

Christmas idea #2, The gift of clean water

It's AgSilver Cleanbucket, 30 bucks. The bucket is "infused with ionic silver, the CleanBucket controls bacterial growth and minimizes “bucket slime.” Testing shows that horses prefer the taste of CleanBucket water over that of traditional bucket water."

I have two, one for Riley and one for Harv. Riley has two buckets and he clearly prefers this bucket water over his regular bucket. I recommended this product as part of our GMO's year end award package. At $30 it is the perfect "gift price," and it's a price point where  people might be reluctant to buy it for themselves (unless they are Stacey Kimmel). Thumbs up! Available at Smartpakequine.com.

Padre in Person!

Some of you know that Padre, the mustang that won big at Dressage At Devon a few years ago, will be at the Equine Affaire in Massachusetts this weekend.

Patti called me a few months ago to say she would be travelling through PA on their way there -- could we meet? I've been like a kid waiting for Christmas ever since. While I'd only corresponded with Patti via email, she's one of those people that you feel you know before you meet her, and my feeling was right. She's fun, low-key, and totally committed to her special horse.

So I met Padre and had dinner with Patti Brutus and Sandy, the third part of the Padre triumvarate.  Sandy is the barn owner and supporter/backup on all of Padre's excursions.

Padre is as lovely in person as in pictures, and Patti has some exciting news for Padre fans -- see the video!!!

Christmas idea #1, The Dressage Chronicles journal

If you remember my review of Dressage Chronicles, you know that I'm a huge fan. Well, just in time for Christmas author Karen McGoldrick has released a training journal -- ample writing space  complemented by thoughtful articles by Karen and photos by Selene Scarsi.

At less than $20, what a great gift it would make, as would the novel at $24.95. You can order both for $39.95 at http://deedspublishing.com/TDC/.

On a personal note, I'm very pleased that Karen is having so much success with this book. It's a book I wish I could have written -- as a  blogger that writes everything slapdash, I can appreciate this novel's style and humor and authenticity.  And she is a "real" rider too, with a riding life apart from the whole book thing.

The Photo Series 6: Final Halt

Well, breathe a sigh of relief -- the last photo! This would be my fave photo if only the halt were square, I just love Ri's expression. I should also warn you that in the next week I have some heavy-duty work commitments -- including some travel -- and I'm not sure if I'll be updating my blog regularly. I'm hoping to do at least some text updates...

I stole a pair of boots (it felt that way)

While I don't ride in paddock boots, I do like to wear them with breeches when I run errands after riding. Is that worth buying a pair of Ariat Heritage boots? Well. No.

My shopping miracle
Sometimes the shopping fairy smiles on you when you least expect it. On the advice of a  friend, I was exchanging an item I'd bought as a shower gift in a local department store. While waiting for the exchange to be processed by the store beaurocracy, I  wandered aimlessly around the shoe dept. It was Labor Day weekend, and they were having a big sale.

Then the skies parted, and a light shone down on...
These awesome boots. The color, I think, is what makes them special, but the photo doesn't do it justice. They are grey/blue, the kind of color that takes on different tones depending on what you wear.  Do I love them? YES! Note:

• the side zipper
• the unfashion-y style of these fashion boots
• The softness of the leather and awesome color...

The Photo Series 5: Heading to the last trot circle

Starting to collapse my mid-section. Ri looks good, I think...

Guess who ordered their Rolex tix???

We do! Bob and I have our tix, our flight, our hotel reservations.  I think this is our five year anniversary of going to Rolex, and also our seven year wedding anniversary (we were married on August 22 or thereabouts).


The Road to Rolex...
When we flew to Indiana, being in an airport reminded me of landing in Lexington and feeling totally jazzed by the horse sculptures and murals there. I was BORN to live in a place that has horses infused into every public space. One day I'll move there...

The Photo Series 5: Down the Diagonal, 2

Here we are down the diagonal again...

The Photo Series 4: Down the Diagonal

Down the diagonal line, here we are at about the mid-point looking fairly pleasant. It's a beginner-level frame, and you can tell his movement is pretty flat here. You can see I'm collapsed through the midsection.

The Photo series 3: The Canter

You're darn tootin' we cantered!
For about three strides, then we broke to trot.
Thinking that taut inside rein may have said "whoa" to Ri,  who looks attentive and obedient.

Stephen Crowers Photography

The Photo Series 2: Down center line

Grim determination coming down the center line at the start of the test...